A Letter from the Desk of Jilly Stephens in Response to the House of Representatives Vote

Historic Federal Cuts Would Take Food Away from Families
May 22, 2025

This morning the House of Representatives voted to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to critical food, nutrition, and other important safety net programs. The bill now goes to the Senate, and we are carefully watching its progress. Should these proposed cuts go into effect, they would be devastating to the millions of New Yorkers and people across the country who are already struggling to put food on the table. For example, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is our nation’s most effective tool in fighting hunger, helping 1.8 million New York City residents and millions more across the country afford the food they and their families need to thrive.

The proposed cuts of nearly $300 billion to SNAP would gut the program, taking food away from children, seniors, and working New Yorkers, period. And they come at a time when 50% of working-age New Yorkers are already struggling to cover necessities amidst an affordability crisis, and when visits to New York City soup kitchens and food pantries are at a record high. These cuts would also hurt local economies, as every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50 in economic activity at neighborhood supermarkets and bodegas.

For every meal that food banks provide, SNAP provides nine. City Harvest—and indeed, the entire charitable food system—simply cannot make up the gap if these cuts go into effect. But with your support, we will do everything we can to minimize the catastrophic impact these cuts would have on our neighbors in need and provide even more nutritious food for free to people experiencing food insecurity across New York City.

I want to be clear: This is not business as usual. This would be the biggest cut to SNAP in its history, coming at a moment of deep uncertainty and change that is contributing to the extraordinary need for food assistance in our city. Over more than 40 years of serving New York City, City Harvest has stepped up repeatedly in response to changing needs in our city. And with your support, we will do it again.

An Affordability Crisis

The need in New York City is staggering even before any cuts to critical food assistance programs. New research released last week by Feeding America shows that 1 in 6 New Yorkers experienced food insecurity in 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available), up from 1 in 7 the year before and up from 1 in 8 just five years ago. In 2019, there were about 25 million visits to NYC soup kitchens and food pantries. Last year there were more than 46 million visits. And those numbers are only increasing. The ongoing affordability crisis is driving more and more of our neighbors to food pantries as they struggle to balance high costs for essentials like rent, childcare, and groceries. City Harvest was already increasing the amount of food we will be rescuing and delivering this year in response to this persistent need, and while we cannot make up for these proposed cuts, we still must do even more.

The Devastating Impact of Federal Cuts

On top of the affordability crisis, recent federal cuts and freezes that predated the House vote make the outlook all the more alarming. After 30 consecutive years of receiving Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funding originating with FEMA, City Harvest was notified in February that we would not be receiving funding this year due to a freeze on EFSP funding. As an organization that is primarily privately funded, we are fortunate that federal cuts have not directly impacted us even more. However, many of our food pantry partners have lost funding and food deliveries because of recent federal cuts and freezes. Even before the full scope of these proposed policy changes would take effect, our partner food pantries are telling us that they’re having to turn away people in need of food and to decrease the number of food distributions they offer. That should not be happening in one of the most affluent cities in the world.  

Taken together, it’s a perfect storm. And if our most vulnerable neighbors are going to weather it, it will require all of us coming together to do even more to support one another.

How We’re Stepping Up

City Harvest is uniquely positioned to mobilize in response to the fallout from any federal cuts. Through our decades of experience and deep relationships with our 400 soup kitchen and food pantry partners and within communities across the city, we have the expertise and ability to rescue food and get it where it is needed most. This year, in response to record levels of need, we have increased our food rescue and delivery operations by 4 million pounds beyond our initial goal, recruited nine new food pantry and soup kitchen partners, and invested in our agency partners to enable them to serve more New Yorkers. But we need to do even more. And we are only able to do this with the ongoing and generous support of friends like you.

How You Can Help

There are several ways you can help make sure our neighbors experiencing food insecurity have the food they need to thrive, no matter the political or economic environment.

• Donate. The most effective way to support our work is by donating. Just $1 helps feed 2 New Yorkers in need.
• Advocate. Sign our petition to tell Congress and the USDA that you oppose any cuts to SNAP.
• Volunteer. You can find opportunities to distribute free produce, repack produce into family-sized bags to deliver to food pantries, and much more here.

And if you, like so many of our neighbors, are struggling to meet the high cost of living and are in need of food assistance, visit our Find Food Map for locations offering free food throughout New York City.

Thank you for your dedication to our fellow New Yorkers. Together, we will feed our city—one day, one meal, one New Yorker at a time.

In partnership,

Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest